THE BAND-TAILED PIGEON. 



1 .'. 



especial interest. He writes mo under (Lite of May f>: "I have camped fur the 



past month in Ramsey's Canon, which is the st heavily \\oo.le.l on.- in this 



locality, situated in about the center of the Iluachuca Mountains. A I tout a 

 quarter of the way up, close to the main trail, at an elevation of about <;,<MMI 

 feet, is a swampy spring, around which several acres of wild nmlberrv trees 

 and bushes grow. I camped close to this place, and Pigeons wen; alwa\s 

 about in abundance. Probably sixty pairs visited or staid about this spring 

 at all times. 



"I shot a number of these birds for food, and one day on approaching 

 one sitting on a spruce bough, about 10 feet up, and not being able to start 

 it from its perch for a wing shot, I put a 'hummer load' in my gun, am! 

 brought it down in rather a mutilated condition, as I was not. over G feet off. 

 It proved to be a female, and much to my surprise I found that the dust 

 shot had smashed an egg, which I found embedded in the feathers of her 

 belly. As I could find no sign of a nest on the limb on which she had 

 been sitting, and the egg was entirely surrounded with feathers, I concluded 

 she must carry it around with her. This was on March 30, and the egg was 

 fresh. 



"During the month of April, being very busy with other matters, I gave 

 only a day or two to searching for the nests, and was not successful in find- 

 ing any. On April 14, I killed a few young, about a month old, and an 

 adult female with an egg in her ovary, about one-third size. On May 3, I 

 made another trial, and during a hard day's hunt I found five nests, each con- 

 taining a single well-incubated egg. These nests were all found in spruce 

 pines, from 15 to 70 feet up, and were constructed simply of a few small 

 twigs laid across a limb. Next day I found four more nests; one in an oak, 

 12 feet up, containing a squab about a week old; another in a mulberry, about 

 8 feet from the ground, with a fresh egg, and two others in spruce pines. On 

 approaching one of these trees the female flew off heavily, and seemed to be 

 trying to balance herself on a limb of a tree, far down below. When 1 climbed 

 to the nest I found no egg in it, and am almost certain she carried it off 

 with her. I also allowed the female to fly off from the next nest, and like 

 wise found it without an egg. Wishing to test the matter, I afterward shot 

 several females on the nest. In one case one dropped to the ground, and witli 

 her came the egg, breaking and spreading egg and shell among the feathers of 

 the belly." 



In some later notes sent, Mr. Poling says: "Since writing to you in regard 

 to the Band-tailed Pigeon, on May 5, I have taken over a dozen eggs, which 

 show my previous experiences to be exception* to the rule, or else are due to 

 difference in season or locality. As far as my knowledge now extends, I am 

 somewhat puzzled in regard to these birds. The fact of their nesting at all 

 seasons, without any regularity, seems to be well established, as- 1 have taken 

 young, two or three months old, in February; and since that time young and 

 eggs enough to show that they lay and nest from December to August, my 



